Volunteers Wanted: Misericordia Jelly Bean Candy Days

If you're still in search of a service project -- or just looking for an opportunity to help out in the community -- why not join with other OCC students and participate in the annual Misericordia Jelly Bean Candy Days. This fundraiser raises money for the many different programs and services Misericordia provides to children and adults with developmental disabilities.

On April 23 and/or April 24, you could be one of 12,000 volunteers throughout the metro region who pass out candy and informational tags in exchange for donations of any size. Working the streets, sidewalks, and store fronts in the city and suburbs, you will be helping Misericordia in its mission and giving something back yourself.

If you are interested and think you can give a minimum of 2 hours on either Friday or Saturday, then you should contact Princess Escudero in the Student Life office in Skokie before April 1. Her telephone number is 847-635-1443 and her email is princess@oakton.edu.

The deadline for signing up is April 1.

Giving New Life to Old Shoes -- Part 2

As mentioned in a previous blog entry, the OCC Green Committee's current campus-wide campaign to collect gently-used shoes is in partnership with Nike's Reuse a Shoe and Soles4Souls. Here's a bit more information about those organizations and what's going to happen to the shoes YOU donate.

The shoes collected through Nike's Reuse a Shoe program will be processed in order to obtain high-quality ground rubber, foam, and fiber. These“Nike Grind” materials are then used for surfacing tracks, gym floors, outdoor basketball and tennis courts and indoor wood courts in more than 300 sport and playground surfacing projects around the world. Since 1990 this global effort has resulted in more than 25 million shoes being recycled and reused.

The Soles4Souls slogan is “changing the world -- one pair at a time.” This Nashville-based charity collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of generous individuals and families. These are then donated free of charge to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria. Some of the shoes collected for Soles4Souls at OCC will be sent to Haiti.

Get involved in this green initiative. Spread the word, donate shoes, and donate some time to make this a success.